# σκεῦος
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew- (“to perform, commit or to cut, hew, equip”), and compared with Proto-Germanic *hawjaną (“to carry out, perform”) and Proto-Slavic *kutiti (“to devise, whirl”). Other theories which derive the word from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewH- (“to push”), comparing to Lithuanian šáuti (“to shoot, shove”) and Proto-Slavic *sovati (“to shove”), are semantically unconvincing.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skêu̯.os/ → /ˈsce.βos/ → /ˈsce.vos/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /skêu̯.os/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈske.wos/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈsce.βos/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈsce.vos/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈsce.vos/

### Noun

σκεῦος • (skeûos) n (genitive σκεύους); third declension
* a vessel, implement
** 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 402
** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 4.128
** 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 983
** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 596B
** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 373A
** (in the plural) outfit, gear, utensils, chattels, equipment, baggage, luggage, tackle
*** 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 1318
*** 445 BCE – 380 BCE, Lysias, On the Property of Aristophanes 31
*** 421 BCE, Aristophanes, Peace 552
*** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.13
*** 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 9.17.3
*** 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, On Stones 42
*** 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.31
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 4.5.55
*** 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 12.15
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 3.13.6
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 5.4.17
*** 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Critias 117D
*** 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laches 183E
*** 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Oeconomicus 8.11
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians 46.1
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Evergus and Mnesibulus 19
*** New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 27:17
** an inanimate object, a thing
*** 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 601D
*** 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 506D
*** 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Democritus, Collected Works 159
*** 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric 1407B.8
*** 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 13.5.7
*** 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 15.25.1
*** New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 9:15
* the body, as the vessel of the soul
** 55 CE – 56 CE, Paul the Apostle, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 4:7
** New Testament, First Epistle to the Thessalonians 4:4
** New Testament, First Epistle of Peter 3:7
* genitalia
** 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 17.11

#### Derived terms

* σκευαγωγός (skeuagōgós)
* σκευάζω (skeuázō)
* σκευάριον (skeuárion)
* σκευογραφία (skeuographía)
* σκευοθήκη (skeuothḗkē)
* σκευοποιός (skeuopoiós)
* σκευοπώλης (skeuopṓlēs)
* σκευουργία (skeuourgía)
* σκευόφορος (skeuóphoros)
* σκευοφύλαξ (skeuophúlax)
* σκευωρός (skeuōrós)

#### Related terms

* σκευή (skeuḗ)

#### Descendants

* → Gothic: 𐌺𐌰𐍃 (kas) (semantic loan)

### References

* 1 2 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “σκεῦος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1348-9
* ↑ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “(s)keu-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 950–951

### Further reading

* “σκεῦος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* σκεῦος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
* G4632 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. art idem, page 42.article idem, page 42.commodity idem, page 148.implement idem, page 421.thing idem, page 867.utensil idem, page 941.work idem, page 988.